Percussion-fuse.



N0 MODEL.

H. WILSON'& A. H. CHA

PATENTED MAY 17,v 2904. SE.

' PERCUSSION FUSE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 30, 1903,

Wane/wee UNITED STATES Patented May 1'7, 1904.

HARnY-WiLsoN AND ARTHUR H. CHASE, OF WASHINGTON DISTRICT-i ooLUMBm,ASSlGNORS To UNITED STATES ORDNANCE COMPANY, or WASHINGTON, DISTRICT orCOLUMBIA, A CORPORATION or VIRGINIAII PERCUSSlON-FUSE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 760,046, dated m 17,1904.

Application filed July 30. 1903. Serial No. 167,58d. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that W8,HARRY WILSON and AR- THUR H. CHASE, citizens of theUnited States, residing at Washington, District of Columbia,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Percussion-Fusesfor Explosive Projectiles, of which the following is a full, complete,and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

Our invention relates to that class of fuses in which the percussionelement is released only by centrifugal force, such as is due to therotation of the projectile in flight when fired from a rifled gun.

The object of our invention is to provide a fuse which (when assembledin an explosivechargcd projectile) may be safely subjected to thevarious shocks and accidents liable from transportation and handling andyet which is sufiiciently sensitive (when fired in an explosive-chargedprojectile from a rifled gun) to insure the bursting of the projectileupon sudden retardation of its forward movement, whether suchretardation is very marked, such as is the result of direct impactagainst an object. normal to the line of fire, or very slight, such asmight result from the lateral slap or graze of the projectile againstwater or other objects.

We provide an improved, strong, and substantial centrifugal safety-guardwhich prevents the firing-pin from moving forward at all times exceptwhen the projectile is being rotated with, great rapidity, such as isimpart- 35-ed to a banded projectile when fired from a rifled gun.

It has been observed that a projectile when iired from a modern gun uponstriking the Watcr and ricochetting is appreciably deflected from itsproper course and ordinarily misses its target entirely. .In our fusethe ball acting upon'the cone'of the firing-pinlires the primer andexplodes the projectile whether the projectilestrikes laterally or pointfirst. Of the numerous resulting fragments many arclikelytostrikethetarget, causing damage.

To prevent, the forward .movement ofthe firing-pin during the flight ofthe projectile,

(commonly called creeping,) at which time the centrifugal safety-guarddoes not) retard such forward movement, we provide a'f split ringnormally in tension against the wallet the fusc-body and held within agroove in'the] firing-pin. This ring is just .s trohgfenoiighfl toprevent creeping and is not fsnflicientlyl l strong to retard thefiring-pin when thepr jectile strikes after being fired.

f To delay bursting the projectile l lnhll it'ha's penetrated thetarget, we'p'rovidee supplef mental magazine the mouth of which is'sfe'ale l :"6 by a disk. This magazine contains aslow'ex plosive whichgradually exerts s'uiiicient'presk sure to blow out the disk and explodethe main I magazine of the fuse. Figure 1 is a section of the base of aprojectile, showing a longitudinal diametrical "sec'-; tion of thevarious parts ofou'r fuse in v normal or safety positions. Fig'i 21s atrans verse section through a (t of 1. "Fig. 31s a transverse section ofthe centrifugal safety xi guard G, showing same in its norn1al'or-safety*--' position. i Fig. 4 is a similar-view ofthe guard Gr, showingthe positions the partsassume diir ing flight of the projectile.'--Figs. 5' and Garesimilar to Figs. 3 and 4, respel" .-tivel-y=, showing a modified construction of: the guard G P (see Fig. 1) represents aportion of a projectile fitted with-our inventionm I i A is thefuse-body, having.the-powder-miiigazine B, theigniting-chargesbeing.retained; therein by a wad C.

D is a plug secured to the body, having "a stem 1), carrying the cap-E,and perforated.-,

at D to permit the passage of. the fiame-froiu the cap E to thesupplemental magazine D which contains a slow explosive and whichisseparated from the magazineB by thc disk B. I F is a tiring-pin groovedat F',--hav ing a striking-point F. It. is normally retainedntheposition shown inrllig. .Lby the, -centri ugal safety-guarda-G, 5. 1H is a split .ring normally in .-tension1against the :wallof' the; fusebodyand held, the groove ,F', of the. firing-pin K is a weight,prefenably spherical, shown, loosely supported in the base of thefuse vthe stem D of the plug is tively,

the fus ebody will permit.

by the conical seatsiA in the fuse-body and F in the firing-pin.

.The centrifugal safety-guard G is shown more in detail in Figs. 3 and4. two cu'rved arms G G recessed at front and rear to form flan es G andloosely joined to' gether by the ho t G which has a nut G5. Springs G,under the head and nut,respec abut against the bottoms of the cavitiesG. hese springs keep the arms G and Ginormally closed, as shown in Fig.3, and inthis position the inner surfaces G of the arms form anaperture, tgrough which passes G is a finger loosely pivoted at Gr inthe arm G, normally lying in a slot G in the arm G. In this position theaperture between the inner surfaces G of the flanges G is smaller thanthe diameter of the firing-pin F. During rotation in the flight of theprojectile; however, centrifugal force is set up in the arms G"Gr andthey fly apart as far as the'walls of In this position (shown in Fig. 4)the outer surfaces of the arms form a cylindrical surface, as to theinner surfaces G of the flanges G and the diameter between the surfacesG is sufficiently great to permit the entrance of the firingplnF.

When the centrifugal 'safetyguard G assumes its armed position, Fig. 4:,the. finger G flies from the slot G and engages the springs G when thecentrifugal force ceases pin G, which straddles the slot Gr of the arm Gholding the centrifugal guard G in its armed position against thepressure of the to do so.

A modified construction of the centrifugal safety-guard G is exhibitedin Figs. 5 and 6. In this formthe bolt G", nut G and springs G. arereplaced by the U-shaped spring L, which has inwardly-projecting nibs LL at its ends. This spring snaps into the grooves G in the arms G G, andthe nibs L L entor the. recesses G 'in the arms G (1%, normally holdingthe. arms in their closed or safety position.

We disclaim as our joint invention, so far as same may containpatentable subject-matter, the following: The combination of afusebody,a primer, means mounted in the fusebody to explode the primer, aspherical plunger movably mounted in the fuse-body independent of theprimer-exploding means, and

centrifugally-released securing means normally holding theprimer-exploding means and plunger in inactive position.

We have described our invention so that one skilled in the art may makeit; but we do not limit our invention to these details of construction,which may obviously be varied without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

We claim t I I 1. In a pefcussion-fuse; the combination of a casingprovided with a conical recess in its It comprises rear \v'alhafiring-pin provided with a conical recess in its rear face, a plungersupported by and retained between the conical recesses in said casingand firing-pin, an igniting-cap and a safety-guard lying loosely in thecasing between the firing-pin and cap.

2. In a percussion-fuse; the combination of a casing provided with aconical recess in its rear wall, a firing-pin provided with a conicalrecess in its rear face, an igniting-cap, safetyguard lying loosely inthe casing between the firing-pin and'cap and an inertia-operatedplunger supported by and retained between the conical recesses in saidcasing and firingpin; whereby said plunger acts forwardly on saidfiring-pin upon either forward or lateral impact. Y

3. In a percussion-fuse; the combination of a casing provided with aconical recess in its rear wall, a firing-pin provided with a conicalrecess in its rear face, an ignitingcap,a safetyguard lying loosely inthe casing between the firing-pin and cap and a spherical weight looselysupported by and retained between the .conical recesses in the casingand firing-pin; said weight being thus adapted to act forwardly on saidfiring-pin upon either forward or lateral shock.

4. In a percussion-fuse; the combination of a casing provided with aconical recess in its rear wall, a firing-pin provided with a conicalrecess in its rear face, an igniting-cap, a plunger supported by andretained between the conical recesses in the casing and firing-pin and aseparable safety-guard loosely interposed between the firing-pin andcap, means for normally holding said guard together to prevent thefiring-pin from engaging with the cap and permitting said guard to openunder the influence of centrifugal force to release the firing-pin.

5. I In a percussion-fuse; the combination of a casing provided with aconical recess in its rear wall, a firing-pin provided with a conicalrecess in its rear face, an igniting-cap, a separable safety guardloosely interposed between the firing-pin and cap, means for normallyholding said guard together to prevent the iiring-pin from engaging withthe cap and permitting said guard to open under the influence ofcentrifugal force to release the firing-pin and an inertia-operatedplunger supported by and retained between the conical recess in saidcasing and firing-pin; whereby said plunger acts forwardly on saidfiring-pin upon either forward or lateral shock.

6. In a percussion-fuse; the combination of a casing provided with aconical recess in its rear wall, a firing-pin provided with a conicalrecess in its rear face, an igniting-cap, a separable safety-guardloosely interposed between the liring-pin and cap, means for normallyholding said guard together to prevent the firing-pin from engaging withthe cap and permitting said guard to open under the inlIO a casing, afiring-pin movably mounted in the casing, an igniting-cap, asafety-guard lying .loosely in the casing between the firing-pin andcap; said guard comprising separable arms, a yielding COHDE-CtIOUsecured to and carried by sald arms normally holding them together andpermitting said arms to open under the influence of centrifugal forceagainst the action of said yielding connection.

8. In a percussion-fuse; the combination of acasing, a firing-pinmovably mounted in the casing, an igniting-cap, a safety-guard lyingloosely in the casing between the firing-pin "and cap; said guardcomprising separable arms, spring-actuated means secured to and carriedby the arms normally pressing them fit o'getllcr and permitting them toopen under the influence of centrifugal force against the action of saidspring-actuated means.

9. In a percussion-fuse; the combination of a casing, a f ring-pinmovably mounted in the casing, an igniting-cap, a safety-guardcomprising separate members lying loosely between the firing-pin and capnormally holding the firing-pin from engagement with the cap, ayieldingconnection secured to and carried by the members of said safety-guardnormally holding them together and adapted to be overcome by centrifugalforce to permit said members to open and release the firing-pin.

10. In a percussion-fuse; the combination of a casing, a firing-pinmovably mounted in the casing, an igniting-cap, a safety-guardcomprising separate members lying loosely in the casing between thefiring-pin and cap normally holding the firing-pin from engagement withthe cap, a yielding connection between the members of the safety-guardnormally holding them together and adapted to be overcome'by centrifugalforce to permit said members to open and release the firing-pin and'centrifugally-actuated means carried by the members to prevent theirreturn to normal position when centrifugal force ceases.

1 1. In a percussion-fuse; the combination of a' casing, a firing-pinmovably mounted in the casing, an igniting-cap, a safety-guard lyingloosely in the casing between the firing- -pin and cap; said guardcomprising a bifurcated collar, a yieldlng connection between thesegmental members of said collar normally holding them together andpermitting said members to open under the influence of centrifugal forceagainst the action of said yielding connection.

12. *In a fuse; the combination of a fusebody, a primer, means mountedin the fusebody to explode the primer, a plunger movably mounted in thefuse-body independent of the primer-exploding means, and securing meanslying loosely in the casing normally holding said primer-exploding meanstoprevent the primer from being exploded, said securing means comprisingtwo curved arms normally held together by a yielding connectiontherebetween and adapted to open under the influence of centrifugalforce to release the tiring-pin when the gun has been discharged.

13. In a percussion-fuse; the combination of a casing provided with aconical recess in its rear wall, a firing-pin provided with a conicalrecess in its rear face, an igniting-cap, a safety-guard looselyinterposed between said firing-pin and cap and an inertiaoperated weightretained between the conical recesses in the casing and firing-pinrespectively.

14. In combination with a projectile, a fuse therefor adapted to beinserted centrally of the base of the projectile, comprising a tubu--lar casing, a loosely-mounted plunger in the casing, means mounted inthe casing adapted to explode a primer, and asafety device looselymounted in the. casing for normally holding 1 said means to prevent theprimer from being exploded, and which when the gun is discharged isunlocked being released entirely by centrifugal force as the projectileis in flight, the plunger moving forward and striking the firing meanswhen the projectile strikes.

15. The combination with a projectile, of a fuse, comprising a casing, afiring-pin, means loosely mounted in the casing engaged by thefiring-pin to hold the firing-pin from engagement with thefulminating-cap and when the projectile is in flight to be moved bycentrifugal force to release the firing-pin. and means mounted in thecasing adapted to strike the firing-pin after the projectile has beenimpeded in its flight. i

16. In a fuse, the combination of a fusebody, a primer, means mounted inthe fusebody to explode the primer, a plunger movably mounted in thefuse-body independent of the primer-exploding means, and securing meansloosely mounted in the fuse-body normally holding said primer-explodingmeans to prevent the primer from being exploded, said securing meansbeing adapted to be released by centrifugal force after the gun has beendischarged.

17. The combination of a fuse-body,a primer supported therein, a firingpin movably mounted in the fuse-body in operative relation to theprimer, a hammer also movably mounted in the fuse-body independent ofand in operative relation to the firing-pin, and centrifugally-releasedsecuring means loosely supported therein, a firing pin movably holdingthe firing pin in its inactive position.

19. In a fuse for projectiles, the combines tion of a tubular fuse bodyor casing adapted to be secured centrally inv a projectile, a ham-'mer'loosely mounted in the casing, a primer secured in the casing, afiring-pin movably mounted in the casing independently of the hammer andin opeietive relation to the .primer, and centrifugally-releasedsecuring 1'5 means loosely mounted in the casing norinlilly holdingthefiring+pi12rand hammer in intuitive position. I I l In testimony whereofwe have signed our names tothis' specification in the resence of 2witnesses.

HARRY WILSON;- ARTHUR H. CHASE two subscribing I Witnesses:

HENRY 1T, BRIGHT, A. Y. LEECH, Jr.

